Self-bailing beam



Aug. 20, 1968 T. E. DAVIS SELF-BAILING BEAM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July12, 1966 INVENTOR 12 0/1745 I Z4146 'M ATTORNEYS BY Z Aug. 20, 1968 T.E. DAVIS SELF-BAILING BEAM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 12, 1966 vINVENTOR .Ziwwxa; Z7 .Zq/ns I. I H 2? ATTORNEYS United States Patent3,397,558 SELF-BAILING BEAM Thomas E. Davis, Burlington, N.C., assignorto Burlington Engineering Sales Company, Inc., Graham, N.C., acorporation of North Carolina Filed July 12, 1966, Ser. No. 564,591Claims. (Cl. 68-198) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A beam for supporting atextile fabric during the treatment of the fabric with a fluid andduring operations for removing or extracting the fluid from the treatedfabric wherein the beam is constructed of perforated cylindricalwrapper. At the interior of one end of the wrapper adjacent the axialoutlet thereof at least one scoop member is provided which has dischargemeans communicating with the interior of the wrapper. The outlet of thedischarge means opens adjacent the axial outlet of the beam so as to bein fluid communication therewith.

This invention relates to beams for supporting textile fabrics duringthe treatment thereof with fluids and during operations for removing orextracting fluids from the treated fabrics. More particularly theinstant invention relates to means provided at least at one end of abeam of the type described for transporting liquids located at said endto a position whereat said liquids can be easily removed to a pointremote from said beam.

Woven and knitted textile materials, particularly tricot fabrics, arecommonly subjected to many treatments with liquids, vapors and gasesfor, the purposes of bleaching, dyeing, washing and the like, by windingthe fabric on perforated hollow cores and causing dye liquids or otherfluids to pass through the fabric roll in radial direction, from theinside of the core outwardly, and upon occasion in opposite flow, oroutside-in flow, or a combination of both. An exemplary beam constructedto achieve uniformity of treatment to all parts of the material isdisclosed in US. Patent 2,701,957, which beam provides thorough and evenfluid penetration of the fabric roll. Subsequent to fluid treatments ofmaterial supported on a beam of the type referred to, generally thematerial while so supported is subjected to operations to remove orextract excess fluid from the material. conventionally, the beamsupported textile material is placed in a vacuum extractor wherein thebeam is positioned substantially horizontally so that one end thereof isdisposed slightly above the other end, the said other end being incommunication with a centrifugal exhaust means. The vacuum extractor isalso provided with means for rotating the beam at any convenient rate sothat on rotation the excess treating liquid is expelled from thematerial. Because the beam is slightly angularly disposed with respectto the horizontal axis of the extractor, excess fluid collects at theend of the beam disposed below the horizontal axis of the extractor.Because the ends of the beam are imperforate it is diflicult to removeany substantial amount of this collected liquid from the beam during theextraction cycle. The conventional plug drain means provided at said oneend of the beam has not been found effective to remove the fluidcollected in the vicinity thereof in amounts or at a rate considereddesirable. Also, residual water or fluid can be held in a degree ofsuspension within the core of the beam, but cannot be lifted above thecavity of the sealing surface. When the exhausting means is re moved, orshut off for removal of the beam, and cloth from the extractor, thisresidual liquid is released from suspension and falls back into thefabric, making an unevenly distributed area of moisture.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide anovel and improved fabric supporting beam, adapted for fluid treatmentof fabrics wound thereon and adapted for elflcient extraction or removalof excess fluid from the treated fabric.

A further object of the instant invention is to provide a fabricsupporting beam provided at least at one end thereof with means adaptedto transport a fluid collected in the vicinity thereof during treatmentof the fabric with a fluid to a position whereat it can easily beremoved to a position remote from said beam.

Yet another object of the instant invention is to provide a fabricsupporting beam in which fabrics can be bleached, washed or dyed, saidbeam offering minimum resistance to fluid flow therethrough and adaptedto en hance uniformity of fluid flow through all portions of itsperiphery adapted to be covered by fabric and being provided with meansfor enhancing substantially complete removal or extraction of fluid fromthe interior of said beam. Further objects will be in part evident andin part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention and the novel features thereof can best be made clear byreference to the following description and the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a fabric supporting beam inaccordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of one end ofthe beam of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of means for transporting fluid collectedin the vicinity of the lowered end of the beam to a position whereatsaid fluid is removed to a position remote from said beam;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the fluid transporting means of FIGURE3; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the otherend of the beam of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the preferred embodiment of theinvention comprises an outer cylindrical metal wrapper 10, which can beconstructed, for example, of twelve-gauge stainless steel sheet. Thewrapper can comprise imperforate end sections 12 and 14 and a perforatedcentral section 16, the end sections being joined to the central sectionin any conventional manner, as by seam welding. The central section isperforated, preferably with a plurality of relatively small, closelyspaced holes 18 to provide a substantial total open area, which can beas much as 50 percent or more of the total area of the perforatedsection.

At each end of the wrapper 10 is provided end support means whichincludes an annular, centrally apertured end plate 20 suitably joinedadjacent the outer portion of imperforate end sections 12 and 14 as bywelding. Adjacent the periphery of the central opening of each end plate20 is fixedly secured beam head 22 disposed coaxially with the wrapper10 and extending outwardly beyond the end thereof. The outer end 24 ofbeam head 22 provides a cylindrical seal ring 26 to provide fluid-tightcontact with a source of treating fluid. Each beam head 22 is providedwith a lifting element such as a lifting hook 28, the hooks at oppositeends of the beam being axially aligned.

The beam is of considerably extended axial length as compared to itsdiameter, usually ranging in length from five to ten times the diameter.Since the wrapper, generally, is relatively thin walled, the extendedlength of beam necessitates some form of interior reinforcement, toeffect the requisite stiffness and resistance to bending moment. Forthis purpose, reinforcing members comprise spaced flanged brace rings 30disposed inside the wrapper 10 in planes normal to the axis thereof, theouter peripheral edge 32 of each brace ring being suitably joined to thewrapper, preferably by welding. Each brace ring is provided with acontinuous laterally extending flange portion 34 which is spaced fromthe outer peripheral edge 32. The flange portion can be unitary with theinner portion of the ring or it can be made integral therewith bywelding to the inner edge of the brace ring. The flanged brace rings canbe constructed of flat stainless steel stock and can be, by way ofexample, one-eighth inch thick and one inch in radial direction. Theflanged portion when not unitary with the ring can also be constructedof suitably formed fiat stainless steel stock one-eighth inch by oneinch. As is evident from the drawings, espeically FIGURE 2, the flangedbrace rings constitute an L structure in cross section. If desired,flanges can extend from either side of the brace ring to constitute a Tsection. It has been found advantageous however, that the brace ringhaving an outer peripheral edge 32 of minimum thickness when joined tothe wrapper over an area of minimum width provides minimum internalblocking of the peripheral area of the perforated section thereof.Accordingly, the fluidized brace rings, conveniently can be attached tothe wrapper 10 between adjacent rows of perforations 18. Additional beamsupport is provided by axially extending stiffening members 36 and aswill be evident, the stiffening members constitute a C structure incross section. Each of the members 36 is fixedly secured, as by welding,to the flange portion 34 of the brace ring at the inner leg 38 thereof.Preferably, the members 36 are circumferentially spaced, about 90 fromeach other.

At that end of the beam adaptable to be disposed below the longitudinalaxis of the vacuum extractor,-shown in phantom in FIGURE 2, there isprovided scoop members 4t) as best seen, for instance in FIGURE 5. Anynumber of such scoops are employed. Since all the scoop members aresubstantially identical a detailed description of one will suflice. Ascan be seen, each scoop member 40 comprises a relatively narrow bottomwall 42, inner wall 44, outer wall 46 and front wall 48. The inner andouter walls 44 and 46, respectively, extend angularly from the bottomwall 42, preferably about 45. The outer wall 46 is attached at its upperedge 50 to the inner peripheral surface of the wrapper 10 and the headbeam 22. A slot 52 is provided in the outer wall 46 to accommodate theannular, centrally apertured end plate 20. The outer wall can also besecured to the web portion 54. of the stiffening member 36, if desired.Intermediate the front Wall 48 and the end remote therefrom and attachedto the bottom wall 42 and the outer wall 46 is dam means 55, the upperedge 57 of which can, advantageously be in contact with end section 12.In fluid communication with the interior of each scoop member 40 throughfront wall 48 is a tube member 56, the discharge end 58 of which isarcuately bent as best seen, for instance, in FIGURE 4. It is notabsolutely necessary that tubes be bent. They may be left unbent andmounted to ring 60. However, by bending tube as shown, more fluid can bedammed and removed with each revolution of beam. The discharge ends ofthe tube members 56 are supported by tube ring 60 which, preferably, issecurely attached to the tubes as by welding. The discharge end of eachtube is so disposed as to deliver fluid discharged therefrom into theair stream provided by the vacuum extractor thereby removing the liquidto a point remote from the beam.

To provide additional strengthening means for the beam it has been foundconvenient to provide stiffening brackets 62 at the end opposite thatprovided with the scoop members 40. As best seen in FIGURE 6, there areprovided four such brackets having an L-shape in cross section. Thebrackets 62 are substantially identical and so a description of one willsuflice. Each bracket 62 has a wall 64, the upper edge of which isattached to the inner peripheral surface of the wrapper l0 and the headbeam 22. A slot 66 is provided in the wall 64 to accommodate theannular, centrally apertured end plate 20. The wall can also be securedto the web portion 54 of the stiffening member 36, if desired. The otheredge of wall 64 merges into flange member 68.

In use, fabric to be treated with fluid is wound upon the beam in theform of a roll, which may be of considerable thickness. As an example,in the case of a tricot, several thousand yards can be wound on a beameighteen inches in diameter. The perforated central section of the beamwill normally correspond substantially in length to the width of thefabric roll and may extend the entire length of the wrapper. Normally,the perforated central section of the wrapper will be slightly less thanthe width of the fabric roll, so that when wound thereon the fabric willextend slightly beyond the limits of the perforated section to precludeoutward passage of fluid except through the fabric.

When a roll of fabric has been wound onto the beam, the beam can beengaged by its lifting hooks 28 and positioned thereby in a suitable dyevat or other fluid treatment apparatus. Fluid-tight contact may then bemade with the outer edges of the seal rings 26 and treating fluid thenpumped into the interior of the beam through one or both of the sealrings, in the well-known manner. When the beam is filled with fluid, theinternal pressure is substantially equalized and fluid is then forcedoutwardly through the fabric roll in all directions. The central sectionof the beam being uniformly perforated, and the resistance to fluidpassage of the fabric roll being substantially uniform, the fluid isdistributed throughout the fabric roll and passes evenly and equallytherethrough in all directions.

When the fluid treatment of the fabric has been completed the seal ringscan be disengaged with the fluid treating apparatus and engaged with avacuum extractor as shown in FIGURE 2. The beam is slowly rotated whilethe interior of the beam is subjected to a vacuum by means of acentrifugal exhauster (not shown) associated with the vacuum extractorto extract fluid from the wound material on the beam through theinterior thereof. The end of the beam operatively connected to thevacuum extractor generally is disposed slightly below the other endthereof. It is at this lower end that the scoop means are provided.During the extraction cycle, because the beam is so tilted, usuallyabout one half inch fluid collects at this end and is not effectivelycaused to be positioned in the air stream created by the centrigugalexhauster and thereby removed to a point remote from the beam. However,in the instant invention, the fluid collected at the beam head isscooped up by scoop members 40 from which it is discharged through tubes56. The discharge end 58 of the tubes 56 is positioned so that the fluidemerging therefrom drops past the air stream and is transported to apoint remote from the beam, generally to a separator tank (not shown) toremove the liquid from the air. By this means essentially all of thewater standing or collected at the lower end of the beam during theextraction cycle is conveniently removed.

It will be understood that the above detailed description has been madefor purposes of illustration and is not intended to limit the scope ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fabric treatment beam comprising a perforated cylindrical wrapperand at least one scoop member provided at one end of said beam at theinterior thereof adjacent the axial outlet of said beam, said scoopmember having discharge means communicating with the interior of saidscoop member, the outlet of said discharge means opening adjacent theaxial outlet of said beam so as to be in fluid communication therewith.

2. The beam of claim ll including a plurality of annularly spaced scoopmembers the discharge means of each fixedly attached to a common supportmeans.

3. The beam of claim 2 wherein said support means the interior of saidscoop means, the outlet of said discomprises a ring member co-axial withsaid beam outlet. charge tube opening adjacent the axial outlet of saidbeam 4. The beam of claim 1 wherein said scoop member so as to be influid communication therewith. is provided with darn means, one end ofwhich is secured to said scoop member, the other end being secured tothe 5 References Cited inner peripheral surface of said cylindricalWrapper. UNI D AT PA S 5. A fabric treatment beam comprising perforatedcy- 2,505,498 4/1950 Lang lmdncal wrapper havmg lmperforate end sectionsand a 2 701 957 2/1955 Newcomb et a1 68 198 plurality of annularlyspaced scoop means provided at 2707383 5/1955 Newcomb 0t 68 189 one endof said beam at the interior thereof adjacent an 10 3:100:979 8/1963Stanway X axial outlet of said beam, each of said scoop means providedwith a discharge tube in fluid communication with WILLIAM I, PRICE,Primary Examiner.

